INDIAN NOTES 
AND MONOGRAPHS 

Edited by F. W. Hodge 




A SERIES OF PUBLICA- 
TIONS RELATING TO THE 
AMERICAN ABORIGINES 



GUIDE TO THE COLLECTIONS 
FROM THE 
WEST INDIES 



NEW YORK 
MUSEUM OP THE AMERICAN INDIAN 
HE YE FOUNDATION 

1922 



This series of Indian Notes and Mono- 
graphs is devoted primarily to the publica* 
tion of the results of studies by members of 
the staff of the Museum of the American 
Indian, Heye Foundation, and is uniform 
with Hispanic Notes and Monographs, 
published by the Hispanic Society of 
America, with which organization this 
Museum is in cordial cooperation. 

Only the first ten volumes of Indian 
Notes and Monographs are numbered. 
The unnumbered parts may readily be deter- 
mined by consulting the List of Publications 
issued as one of the series. 



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INDIAN NOTES 
AND MONOGRAPHS 



A SERIES . OF PUBLICA- 
TIONS RELATING TO THE 
AMERICAN ABORIGINES 



GUIDE TO THE COLLECTIONS 
FROM THE 
WEST INDIES 



NEW YORK 
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 
HE YE FOUNDATION 

1922 



Edited by F. W. Hodge 




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CONTENTS 

PAGE 

N ative Population 5 

The Taino tribes 9 

The Ciboney 13 

TheCarib 16 

Ethnology of the West Indies 17 

Archeology of the West Indies 18 

Cuba 18 

Jamaica 22 

Bahamas 24 

Santo Domingo 25 

Porto Rico 27 

Virgin Islands 29 

Other Islands 31 

Guadaloupe and Dominica 32 

Martinique 32 

Santa Lucia 33 

Saint Vincent 33 

Grenadines 35 

Grenada 36 

Trinidad 36 

Tobago 37 

Barbadoes 38 



INDIAN NOTES 



THE WEST INDIES 

Native Population 

HE Indians of the Antilles possess 
an especial if melancholy in- 
terest in view of the fact that 
they were the "first of the Ameri- 
can aborigines to meet the white invader 
from overseas, and the first to lose their 
lands and to suffer virtual extermination 
at his hands. Columbus, and the early 
explorers following in his wake, found the 
Bahamas and the Greater Antilles (Cuba, 
Haiti, Porto Rico, and Jamaica) inhabited 
for the larger part by a number of peaceable 
agricultural tribes speaking similar dialects 
of the Arawak language, now grouped by 
students under the name of Taino. In the 
large islands of Cuba and Haiti were also 
found a very primitive group of Indians, 
in Cuba called Ciboney, which, although 
apparently at one period occupying large 



INDIAN NOTES 




6 


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areas — the whole of Cuba, for instance, — 
by the time of the discovery survived only 
in certain isolated districts. These savages 
lived largely in caves, subsisting on natural 
products, without knowledge of agriculture, 
and were able to manufacture objects of 
only the simplest and crudest kinds. 

The Lesser Antilles were found to be 
occupied by a third group, the Carib, a 
tierce and bloodthirsty people whose con- 
tinual piratical raids and notorious canni- 
balism struck terror to the hearts of their 
more peaceable neighbors. In spite . of 
this, they seem to have practised agricul- 
ture, and were nearly as far advanced in 
the arts as the Taino tribes. 

The origin of the Ciboney, apparently the 
earliest inhabitants of Cuba, Haiti (Santo 
Domingo), and perhaps of other islands, 
is lost in the mists of the past. As yet there 
is no evidence to connect them with the 
tribes of North, Central, or South America. 
We have every reason for believing, how- 
ever', that both the Arawak and the Carib 
migrated to the islands from South America, 
where many tribes speaking i elated dialects 




INDIAN NOTES 



THIRD FLOOR 


7 


are still found. The Arawak evidently 
left South America first, and gradually 
spread northward and westward, first 
through the Lesser Antilles, then the 
Greater, displacing the earlier inhabitants 
where such existed, and confining them to 
limited areas, as in Cuba. In the Greater 
Antilles they developed the culture we know 
as Taino; then a wave of Carib migration 
started from South America and spread 
through the Lesser Antilles. The Carib 
seem to have exterminated the Arawak 
bodily on some of these islands, while on 
others they killed the men and captured 
the women. When the caravels of Colum- 
bus first sighted the New World, the Carib 
had occupied all of the Lesser Antilles and 
were already raiding Porto Rico and Haiti, 
while the Taino were fast overrunning 
Cuba, driving the Ciboney to the western 
tip of the island and to the outlying keys. 

The remains of the Taino-Arawak and 
of the Ciboney have been studied and their 
principal characteristics established; which 
has not, unfortunately, been done with 
any degree of completeness for the Carib. 




A N D MONOGRAPHS 





8 


GUIDE 




However, archeology reveals the presence 
of three great cultures, and only three, 
and Columbus and his successors found 
three kinds of Indians inhabiting the West 
Indies. Now, two of the archeological 
cultures have already been identified as 
belonging to two of the groups, the Taino 
and the Ciboney, respectively, so we can 
not go far wrong in attributing the third 
culture to the third group, the Carib, 
especially as the distribution of that culture 
in the Antilles corresponds exactly with 
the Carib habitat as described by the early 
explorers. Indeed the results of archeologi- 
cal research in all the West Indies, so far as 
it has progressed, bear out to a remarkable 
degree our historical knowledge of the dis- 
tribution of the peoples in the region. 
Thus in Cuba we find abundant remains 
of the Ciboney and the Taino, while relics 
of the culture attributed to the Carib are 
rare indeed; the Bahamas, Haiti (or Santo 
Domingo), and Jamaica have yielded 
many Taino specimens, and a few of Carib 
origin, while future examination may reveal 
the crude remains of the Ciboney, whose 




INDIAN NOTES 



THIRD FLOOR 


9 


presence in Haiti is suggested by historical 
evidence. Porto Rico yields mainly Taino 
artifacts, but Carib traces are fairly abun- 
dant; and the Lesser Antilles yield both 
Arawak and Carib objects — sometimes one, 
sometimes the other predominating, but 
mainly the latter. Much more informa- 
tion will be found in "Cuba Before Colum- 
bus," published by the Museum. 

The Taino Tribes 

The term Taino has been adopted by 
archeologists as a general designation for 
the Arawak tribes of the Greater Antilles 
which had developed a peculiar culture 
of their own. The name is derived from 
their own language, and means "good or 
peaceable men," as contrasted with the 
warlike and cannibalistic Carib. They 
made their living largely by raising corn 
or maize, cassava, and other native plants, 
and by fishing; but hunting, on account 
of the scarcity and the small size of most 
of the land animals, did not attain great 
importance. Most of their fishing was 
accomplished with nets, w 7 hile clubs, or 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





10 


GUIDE 




macanas, and javelins were the favorite 
weapons for hunting and for war. The 
bow and arrow, though existing in some 
localities, seem to have been little used by 
these people. The canoes which furnished 
them transportation were dug out from 
single logs and were often well made and 
large. These were propelled with pointed 
paddles. 

Their houses were circular or square in 
groundplan, neatly made of poles thatched 
with palm-leaves and walled with thin 
sheets of bark-like material from certain 
palm trees; their beds were hammocks 
slung from the rafters. Very characteristic 
were the stools or seats of wood, known as 
duhos, often beautifully carved in human 
or animal form and inlaid with shell, and 
their handsomely decorated food vessels 
of wood and of pottery. The boiling of 
food was done in earthen pots set directly 
over the fire, and baskets of various forms 
and sizes, hung from the rafters, contained 
surplus provisions, trinkets, and the like. 

Peculiar graters made by driving in- 
numerable bits of flint or other hard stone 




INDIAN NOTES 



THIRD FLOOR 


11 


into the surface of a slab of wood were used 
for grating cassava-root into meal, while 
for squeezing out the poisonous juices from 
the grated root to fit it for human food a 
basket press was employed. Both grater 
and press are still used by the related tribes 
in South America, while the presses are 
still remembered by surviving Cuban 
Indians, who have employed also the ancient 
type of grater until recently. After grat- 
ing and pressing, the meal was made into 
thin loaves or cakes and baked on a flat 
circular griddle, made of pottery or stone, 
fragments of which are still abundant on 
the sites of the ancient villages. 

For wood-cutting and similar purposes 
these tribes used hatchet-blades or "celts" 
of stone, some of them, especially the peta- 
loid type, of unusual beauty in form and 
finish, mounted in club-like wooden handles; 
while fine cutting and carving of wood, 
bone, and shell were accomplished with 
knives, scrapers, and crude drills, rudely 
made from flakes of flint, their knowledge 




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12 


GUIDE 




of flint- working falling far behind that of 
other arts. Gritty stones were used for 
smoothing the work when finished. 

Clothing was little used, both men and 
women going practically naked but for 
tiny apron-like garments, such as are still 
worn by their relatives in South America; 
but a profusion of ornaments was employed, 
including beads and pendants of stone, 
shell, and bone, and circular earplugs of 
shell. Doubtless suitable seeds and nuts, 
and the feathers of tropical birds of brilliant 
plumage were also widely employed as per- 
sonal ornaments, as in South America. 

The esthetic sense of the Taino was 
best expressed in their carvings, especially 
in wood and shell, the delicacy and svmme- 
try of the work in some cases being unsur- 
passed in ancient America. The carvings 
in bone and stone are cruder, but still show 
a high degree of skill, as does much of the 
pottery. Objects may be decorated with 
purely geometric patterns, usually ovals or 
intricate scroll-like designs, or with effigies 
representing, in conventional form, men, 




INDIAN NOTES 



THIRD FLOOR 


13 


animals, and supernatural beings, the latter 
especially being grotesque to the last degree. 

Little of Taino religion or mythology is 
known, but there is historical evidence 
that these had reached a considerable stage 
of development, and that masks, images, 
and the like were widely used. Doubtless 
the stone " collars" and three-pointed 
zemis from Porto Rico, and the grotesque 
images and amulets found on other Taino 
islands, represent only a small part of their 
ceremonial equipment, the rest, of perish- 
able materials, having been lost through 
decay. 

The Ciboxey 

From historical and archeological evi- 
dence, the Ciboney, apparently the earliest 
inhabitants of Cuba, and probably existing 
on the neighboring islands as well, sub- 
sisted solely on natural products without 
any knowledge of agriculture. Various 
fruits were eaten in season, and palm-nuts 
stored away for times of shortage, while 
land-crabs and shellfish formed a great 
part of the even'day diet. Fish and the 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





14 


GUIDE 




flesh of the jutia and other small animals 
were also eaten; and there is some evidence 
that the now extinct megalocnus, a huge 
ground sloth, may have formed part of 
Ciboney diet in ancient times. 

There is no definite knowledge of their 
weapons, but it is very probable that the 
bow and arrow were numbered among 
them. They seem to have made dugout 
canoes of ruder construction than those of 
the Taino. They occupied caves and rock- 
shelters wherever possible, and in such 
places their remains are frequently found; 
but also on occasion lived in camps in the 
open — probably in shelters of the rudest 
kind. Most of their deposits show no trace 
of pottery, but they seem to have had a 
little after contact with the Taino. How- 
ever this may be, they made bowls of wood 
with the aid of fire, using gouges made of 
conch-shell to scrape away the charcoal 
as the work progressed, and turned conch- 
shells into serviceable bowls and dippers 
by pecking out the interior whorls and the 
core. The stone mortars and pitted ham- 
merstones employed by the Ciboney were 




INDIAN NOTES 



THIRD FLOOR 


15 


similar to those found throughout eastern 
North America, but their work in flint was 
very crude, consisting mainly of flake knives 
and rough scrapers. Axes or celts of stone 
and shell occur, but are rare and differ in 
form from Taino types. 

We know nothing of their dress, or lack 
of it: their ornaments were disc beads 
fashioned of shell or of fish vertebrae, and 
pendants made from waterworn bits of 
shell or stone, and of sharks' teeth, per- 
forated for suspension. 

The only specimen known that may 
possibly illustrate the decorative art of the 
Ciboney is a carved wooden baton found 
in the mud of the bottom of a lake in 
western Cuba. The design consists entirely 
of dots and incised intersecting straight lines, 
and although neatly made, cannot be com- 
pared with the products of Taino art. It 
may have been used in ceremonies. 

Nothing else relating to their ceremonial 
or religious life has apparently survived, 
unless the Ciboney may have been respon- 
sible for the exceedingly rude faces pecked 
on stalagmites in certain Cuban caves. 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





16 


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The Carib 

As before stated, the Carib culture has 
not yet been fully worked out and defined; 
but we can be fairly certain that in general 
features (excepting always their piratical 
raids and their cannibalism, both character- 
istically Carib) their mode of life, dwellings, 
hammock-beds, use of cassava, and the 
like, were quite similar to those of the Taino. 

The Carib were expert bowmen, however, 
which can not be said of the Taino, and 
the archeologist observes that they were 
much more given to painting their pottery 
then were the Taino, especially in red. 
black, and white; that the forms were 
somewhat different, and that the effigies 
used as handles and decorations for the 
earthenware vessels have a fat. bloated 
look not seen in Taino ware. The Carib. 
moreover, preferred celts of ordinary type, 
or notched or grooved stone axes, or axes 
of fanciful form, to the petaloid celt-axe 

pVi QrartpfKfir nt trip Tainn 1 in ic\ci wnpn 

Llld.ld.CLCl 15 L1L. Ul LJLLC 1 dHlU , 111 ldLL, \\ 11C1J 

petaloid celts are found on Carib islands 
they are probably either relics of the orig- 




INDIAN NOTES 



THIRD FLOOR 


17 


inal Arawak occupancy or were brought - 
home as trophies by Carib raiders from 
Taino territory. 

Carved wooden stools, idols of stone or 
wood, carved wooden platters, and stone 
collars, all familiar Taino artifacts, do not 
seem to have been made by the Carib, and 
are seldom seen in the Lesser Antilles, 
although the three-pointed zemis may have 
been occasionally imitated by them. It 
is also noticeable that beads, amulets, or 
personal ornaments of any kind, so abundant 
in Cuba, for example, are rare in Carib 
territory, and when they do occur are 
usually different in form — perhaps this 
people made such things mainly of perish- 
able materials. 

ETHNOLOGY OF THE WEST 
INDIES 
(Case 316A) 

Owing to their enslavement and virtual 
extermination by the Spaniards shortly 
after the Discovery, but few persons showing 
Indian blood to a marked degree are left 
in the West Indies; yet some linger in 




AND MONOGRAPHS 





18 


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Cuba, mostly in the eastern part, and in a 
few of the other islands. Most of the 
collection exhibited was obtained from 
Yara village near Baracoa, Cuba, and from 
scattered families in the Maisi district, 
survivors of the Taino. Many of the arti- 
cles shown are also used by the neighboring 
country people of Spanish extraction, but 
all seem to be of aboriginal origin.. Some, 
however, show modification due to Spanish 
influence. Especial attention is called to 
the cassava grater, made by driving bits 
of hard stone into a wooden tablet. 

On the lower shelf may be seen a few 
articles made by the surviving Carib of 
St. Vincent and Trinidad, and on the top 
of Case 329 a raft or catamaran of native 
type from the former island. 

ARCHEOLOGY OF THE WEST 
INDIES 

CUBA 
(Cases 316 BC, 317 A-C) 

In Cuba exploration by expeditions from 
this Museum thus far has revealed two 
principal cultures: (1) that of the primitive 




INDIAN NOTES 




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THIRD FLOOR 


19 


cave-dwelling Ciboney who were apparently 
the earliest inhabitants and lived in 
early times from one end of the island to 
the other; (2) that of the more advanced 
Taino who were long established only in the 
eastern end of the island, although just before 
the conquest they had overrun most of it. 
Thus it happens that although crude Ciboney 
specimens may be found in almost any 
part of Cuba, the remains of the Taino may 
be encountered in quantity only in the 
eastern portion. 

Most of our Ciboney specimens were 
found buried in the ' floors of the caves 
where these people once lived, although 
some were discovered in the refuse-heaps 
marking their camp-sites. On the other 
hand, most of the Taino material in the 
Museum was exhumed from village-sites., 
and only occasional specimens — usually 
fine objects hidden for safekeeping— were 
found in caves. 

Two full case panels and parts of two 
more are devoted to one of the most char- 
acteristic products of the Taino — their 
pottery. The range of form and design 




A ND MONOGRAPHS 





20 


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used by the Cuban bands are well illus- 
trated, especially the almost endless variety 
of grotesque heads and figures used as 
handles for the vessels. 

Equally characteristic of the Taino are 
the beautiful petaloid celts, of which a 
representative series is displayed, beside 
celts of forms which might have originated 
anywhere, and various forms of hammer- 
stones, pestles, and other stone implements. 
The making of celts is illustrated by a series 
showing them in all stages of manufacture, 
together with the hammerstones used to 
batter and grind them into shape. The 
use of such celts as axes (hafted like the 
specimen from North Caicos, Case 319 B) 
is illustrated by a cut stick forming part of a 
rack in a burial cave. Also of stone are 
various fetishes, amulets, and beads, some 
of them beautifully made, and a few pitted 
stones, mortars, cassava griddles, weights, 
and the like. Another characteristic Taino 
art is illustrated by specimens of wood- 
carving, including a paddle, part of an effigy 
representing a cayman or crocodile, and a 
beautifully carved platter, all found hidden 




INDIAN NOTES 



THIRD FLOOR 


21 


in caves for safekeeping. The last two of 
these have evidently been inlaid at some 
time with mother-of-pearl. 

The shell carving of the Taino was often 
excellent, as may be seen by the amulets 
and ornaments in the exhibit, while a series 
of tools and unfinished objects show how 
the work was done. 

Objects of bone are not so abundant, 
but in the collection exhibited some of the 
pieces (especially the part of a bone platter 
and the fragments of spoons and swallow- 
sticks) exhibit considerable skill. 

The coming of the Spaniards and the 
beginning of the written historical period 
in general are illustrated by two specimens 
only — a rusty iron spear-head and a crumpled 
piece of sheet-copper. 

The shell vessels, shell gouges, mortars, 
and pitted hammerstones, characteristic 
of the primitive Ciboney from both ends of 
the island, may be seen in the last panel, 
together with their beads and simple orna- 

ry~\ pf-i f Q fnPlT" rnnp "rn'nf"C dnrl a tpat7 PvamnlAC 
illdlLo, L11C11 1 U.U.C 11111 LS, allU. cl ICW CXallipitb 

of their woodwork. Of the last, the baton 
with a carved handle is especially worthy 




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22 


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of notice, as perhaps the only surviving 
example of Ciboney decorative art. This, 
with several other wooden objects, was 
found in the muck in the bottom of a lake 
in Pinar del Rio. 

A small number of potsherds exhibited 
in this section, found in a few Ciboney 
caves, may indicate that in later days the 
primitive Ciboney people acquired some 
knowledge of the potter's art, perhaps 
from the invading Taino. 

Of unknown origin are the crude faces 
and figures on exhibition found carved on 
stalagmites in certain caves. They were 
probably used ceremonially, but whether 
the Ciboney or the Taino made them is 
impossible to say, although their rudeness 
would suggest the former. 

JAMAICA 
(Case 319 A-D) 

The upper two shelves of Case 319 and 
the space under it are devoted to a collec- 
tion from Jamaica, all of which, except 
perhaps several large stone mortars, and 
the three-legged grinding stone or seat, 




INDIAN NOTES 



THIRD FLOOR 


23 


seems to be easily identified as Taino. 
This seat may have been imported from 
the mainland; the mortars are of unusually 
large size, but they resemble some Cuban 
Ciboney mortars in form. 

An examination of the pottery reveals 
the fact that it bears a strong similarity to 
Cuban Taino ware, although somewhat 
simpler and cruder, on the whole, in form 
and design; the hatchets and ornaments 
are clearly similar to corresponding objects 
in Cuba. 

Perhaps the slight inferiority noticeable 
in Jamaican Taino remains, as compared 
with those of the other islands, may be 
due to the fact that Jamaica is somewhat 
isolated, and was not in continual touch 
with the specialized development of Taino 
culture in Cuba, Haiti (Santo Domingo), 
Porto Rico, and the Bahamas. 

The explorations by the Museum expedi- 
tion to this island have been described in a 
publication " Certain Kitchen-middens in 
Jamaica." 




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24 


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BAHAMAS 
(Case 319 A B) 

A glance at the collection from the 
various islands of the great Bahama group 
lying north of Cuba, the names of which 
may be found on the accompanying map, 
shows that their culture was indistin- 
guishable from that of the Cuban Taino. 

Here we have the typical Taino petaloid 
celts, decoration on pottery, and amulets, 
some of the latter better than any we have 
from Cuba, and an excellent series of typical 
wooden seats, or duhos, two of them adorned 
with heads and one with intricate carvings 
like those of the Cuban wooden platter. 

Best of all is a fine petaloid celt with its 
wooden handle still intact, found in a cave 
on North Caicos island. That this was a 
usual method of hafting these stone axes 
may be seen from a monolithic hatchet 
from Grand Caicos carved from a single 
piece of stone to represent a petaloid stone 
celt in a similar wooden handle. A similar 
but ruder one was found in Providenciales. 

Suggesting the presence of the Ciboney 
in the Bahamas are several shell gouges; 




INDIAN NOTES 



THIRD FLOOR 


25 


and perhaps further investigation will 
establish the fact of their presence in these 
islands before the coming of the Taino. 
The existence of a third and as yet unknown 
culture is suggested by the finding, in the 
Caicos group, of some extraordinary shell- 
tempered potsherds, highly decorated with 
incised straight lines and angles, unlike 
anything found elsewhere in the West 
Indies. 

SANTO DOMINGO 
(Cases 318 A-D, 321 A) 

The island of Santo Domingo, anciently 
called Haiti, and now occupied by the 
republics of Santo Domingo and Haiti, 
although only partially explored, has yielded 
a large collection consisting, for the greater 
part, of pottery and stonework, both to a 
large degree obviously of Taino origin and 
similar to the specimens found in Cuba and 
the Bahamas. 

Some of the pottery is better made than 
the average Cuban ware, and there is an 
even greater variety in form, yet the re- 
semblance is very strong indeed. Special 




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26 


GUIDE 




attention is called to the heart-shape water- 
bottles, a type not seen in Cuba at all, 
and the hollow human figures of earthen- 
ware, perhaps used as idols, of which only 
fragments were found in Cuba. Stamps 
for applying paint, made of earthenware, 
and in one case of stone, are abundant on 
this island. 

In stonework we have the little figurines 
or amulets, the beads, the pestles, and the 
petaloid celts characteristic of the Taino 
culture in Cuba, but in addition we find 
zemis, or " three-pointed fetishes," in the 
form of the human breast, which are thought 
to represent the God of Food or of Fertility; 
and the curious massive objects of stone, 
shaped like horse-collars, also thought to 
be fetishes. These last two classes of 
objects are especially characteristic of the 
Taino bands of Porto Rico. 

Other noteworthy specimens in stone 
are a unique dagger or club, a carving 
representing a monkey, once apparently 
attached to a staff or handle of wood, a 
large flint implement, and two T-shape 
stones of unknown use. 




INDIAN NOTES 



THIRD FLOOR 


27 


Exhibited also are a few objects of shell 
and bone suggesting those of Cuba, and a 
small but interesting wooden idol, all 
typically Taino. 

Carib culture is represented in the col- 
lection from this island only by a few axe- 
heads and perhaps the T-shape stones, and 
the Ciboney not at all; but further explora- 
tion will probably supply specimens of 
both, especially the latter. 

The results of two expeditions to this 
island have been published by the Museum. 

PORTO RICO 
(Cases 321 B, 322 A) 

In the Porto Rico exhibit we see the 
massive stone collars and the mammiform 
zcmis, before mentioned, as being the 
most characteristic of Taino products for 
this island, although found occasionally in 
Santo Domingo, and, rarely, in the Lesser 
Antilles. 

As before stated, the zemis, or three- 
pointed stones, most of them made in the 
form of the human breast, probably repre- 
sent the God of Food or of Fertility, or 




A N D MONOGRAPHS 





28 


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maybe Mother Earth from whom the tribes 
of men draw their food as the infant does 
from its mother's breast. They seem to 
have been considered powerful in produc- 
ing large crops of yuca or cassava. 

It is thought that the curious objects of 
stone resembling horse-collars, like the 
three-pointed stones, were zemis or fetishes 
used in tree-worship, and that the earliest 
forms were of wood, made by bending a 
root or a pole into the form of an oval 
hoop and fastening the ends together. A 
more highly developed form was appar- 
ently compound, combining a wooden hoop 
with a so-called " elbow-stone/ ' of which 
we exhibit some specimens, while the final 
stage was the collar, made entirely of stone, 
but still showing in many cases an attempt 
to represent characteristics of the wooden 
original. 

Much of the pottery is thoroughly Taino 
in character and might have come from 
Santo Domingo or Cuba, but Carib in- 
fluence is seen in the red-painted ware and 
in the forms of some of the grotesque heads 
used as handles for vessels. 




INDIAN NOTES 



THIRD FLOOR 


29 


Most of the stone axes in the collection 
from this island are either typical Taino 
petaloid celts or celts of more widely dis- 
tributed forms; the stone beads and the 
like resemble those of Cuba. Especially 
worthy of note is the duho, or wooden seat, 
the back of which is higher than usual, and 
a tiny duho of stone made to represent 
the wooden type. 

No trace of the Ciboney culture is seen 
in the collection, unless the few rude celt- 
like implements of shell may be attributed 
to them. 

VIRGIN ISLANDS 
(Cases 322 B, 324 B) 

The Virgin Islands, including St Thomas, 
St Croix, St John, and Tor tola, recently 
acquired by the United States, have yielded 
to a Museum expedition a collection illus- 
trating both the Arawak and the Carib 
cultures, the former doubtless represent- 
ing the earlier occupancy, as the Carib 
seem to have been in full possession at 
the time of the Discovery. The rather 
crude character of the Arawak pottery 




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would indicate this, too — it seems to 
represent a period before the Taino cul- 
ture had attained the height of its develop- 
ment. Much of the pottery found on these 
islands is so plain, however, that it lacks 
distinguishing features serving to determine 
its origin. The distinctly Carib ware is 
recognizable as usual by its decoration in 
red or in red and white, and by the form 
of the grotesque heads. Especially in- 
teresting are several massive Carib bowls 
showing painted decoration on the inside. 

One Taino stone collar was collected on 
St. Croix island, but this was probably a 
trophy from Porto Rico brought home by 
Carib raiders; and there are also two small 
rude mammiform zemis of Taino style. 
The stone axes show both the grooved 
and the notched forms of the Carib, the 
fine petaloid celts of the Araw^ak, and a 
number whose origin is doubtful. 

There are several objects of bone in the 
collection also — one of them the handle, 
carved in the form of a man, of some im- 
plement, probably a "swallow-stick," such 
as was thrust down the throat in certain 




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31 


ceremonies. This has inlaid shell eyes 
and mouth, and is an excellent specimen 
of Taino art. 

The Ciboney are not represented in the 
collection, unless it may be that they made 
the shell celts displayed. It will take fur- 
ther exploration and study to determine 
whether this was the case, or whether the 
implements in question were the work of 
the Arawak or the Carib. It seems prob- 
able, however, in view of their increase in 
number as we pass down through the is- 
lands, that they are of Carib origin. 

Further information may be found in 
"Archeology of the Virgin Islands/' pub- 
lished by this Museum. 

OTHER ISLANDS 
(Case 324 A B) 

From Anguilla and St Eustatius the 
collection is small and has little character. 
From St. Kitts and Nevis most of the axes 
and pestles have a Carib appearance. 
Montserrat yields Carib stone implements, 
and decidedly Carib polychrome pottery, 
with one tiny three-pointed zemi of Arawak 




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origin, or showing the influence of that 
people. On the other hand, we see two 
decidedly Arawak petaloid celts in the 
Antigua collection, and the four objects 
from St Martin include one fine Taino 
zemi. 

GUADELOUPE AND DOMINICA 
(Case 324 A) 

The larger collection from Guadaloupe. 
mainly stone axes, consists on the whole 
of distinctly Carib types; and here we first 
note the ornate forms of stone axe-heads 
so highly developed farther south; and the 
same may be said of the Dominica collec- 
tion. In this the only object suggesting 
the possibility of Arawak origin is a solitary 
three-pointed zemi, and this may be merely 
a Carib imitation. 

MARTINIQUE 
(Case 324B) 

The email collection from this island 
shows the Arawak petaloid celt and the 
Carib grooved or notched axe side by side. 



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THIRD r LOOK 


7 1 

66 


SAXTA LUCIA 




(Case 325 B) 




From Santa Lucia the collection consists 
mainly of stone axes, and ornate stone 
forms of unknown use. These are mainly 
pure Carib in type, except a few fine peta- 
loid celts which might have, and probably 
did, come from Santo Domingo or Cuba, 
captured by Carib raiders. 




ST VINCENT 




(Cases 325 A B, 326, 327 A-D) 




But it is not until we reach St Vincent 
that the remains of Carib culture at its 
highest stage of development are found. 
Here we find the typical massive though 
usually well-made pottery, the bloated 
appearance of the grotesque heads used as 
handles for the vessels, the extensive use 
of red, white, and black paint in decorating — 
in fact, all the distinguishing characteristics 
of Carib ware. 

Tnp cfwni^ lmTilArnpnts tti a in lir qypc qtp 
X lie blUIlc lilipicillcll Lo, IllcLlIllv dACS, die 

equally typical of Carib culture, for the 
greater part notched or grooved, and some 




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of them ornamented with decorative pro- 
tuberances of varying forms. One espe- 
cially ornate specimen, doubtless intended 
for ceremonial use, shows a carved open- 
work decoration on the poll, and others, 
effective designs on the blades. A hand- 
some decorated dish of stone also figures 
in the collection. 

There are also a number of crescent-shape, 
hook-like, and fanciful forms of stone to 
which no practical use can be assigned, 
although they are made of material hard 
enough to stand service as implements. 
Also exhibited is one entire case (326) filled 
with fanciful forms in stone too soft to have 
been of practical service for any purpose. 
Some of these represent the well-known 
axe-forms of the island, some the stone 
dishes, while others are entirely fanciful. 
They were found for the greater part in a 
single locality, and, it is thought, formed 
part of a ceremonial deposit of some sort. 

Before leaving the subject of stone ob- 
jects, attention is called to the large mortars 
and grinding slabs, and the huge axe-heads 
too large for practical use, all exhibited 




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35 


beneath Case 327; also to the beads and 
amulets of stone which in most cases differ 
markedly from those of the Taino. 

The only objects suggesting Taino styles 
in the collection are a few fine petaloid 
celts, perhaps brought home as war trophies, 
and some small three pointed zemis, prob- 
ably imitations of Taino forms. 

GRENADINES 
(Case 328 A-D) 

The collection from the Grenadine 
islands including Baliceaux, Cannouan, 
Mustique, Bequia. Carriacou, Union L, and 
Little Martinique, shows practically the 
same culture as St Vincent, for the greater 
part typically Carib, with the exception of 
two three- pointed zemis of Taino type, 
and a few petaloid celts. 

The island of Cannouan, however, has 
yielded some exceedingly rude axe-like 
implements that suggest the presence of 
another and very primitive culture which 
should be further investigated. 

Special attention is called to the curiously 
grotesque water-bottle of pottery from the 




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island of Carriacou. Shell celts seem quite 
numerous in these islands, but their origin 
is as yet uncertain. 




GRENADA 




(Case 329 A B) 




In Grenada the Carib culture is found 
still in its most exuberant form, with axes 
and pottery, exactly as in St Vincent, and 
here too are found abundant shell celts 
and occasional highly polished Taino 
petaloids. As in Cannouan, there are a 
few exceedingly crude axe-like implements 
suggesting a former primitive culture. 

Another noticeable feature is the presence 
of several true adze-blades of stone with 
one flat and one convex side, an implement 
seen only occasionally on other Carib 
islands and not at all in the Taino district. 




TRINIDAD 




(Case 33 DAB) 




In Trinidad, the last of the chain of 
islands and nearest the South American 
coast, we still find Carib pottery at its 




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37 



highest point of development, but our 
collection contains fewer of the typical 
Carib axes, and a new form, but rarely 
seen in the other Carib islands, appears 
here — an axe with two sharply cut notches 
near the poll — a type characteristic of 
Venezuela and the Guianas. Attention 
is called to the excellent series of complete 
or nearly complete Carib pottery vessels, 
especially a unique bird- shape water-bottle. 

The results of two expeditions to this 
island have been published by the Museum. 

TOBAGO 
(Case 329 C) 

One would expect the island of Tobago, 
lying fairly near to Trinidad, to yield a 
full series of Carib artifacts, but such is 
not the case. The collection, on the con- 
trary, comprises a large number of celts, 
including the petaloid, with very few 
axes recognizable as Carib, and no pottery 
at all, while a plummet-like stone imple- 
ment, not seen elsewhere in the islands, 
appears. 



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BARBADOS 
(Case 329 C) 

The outlying island of Barbados, lying 
considerably to the eastward of the main 
archipelago of the Lesser Antilles, has 
yielded an unusually large collection of 
shell celts and gouges, some crude pottery, 
most of which is Carib, but a few pieces 
of which appear to be Arawak, a typical 
Carib "hookstone," three Carib axes, and 
four celts, all of which last might be, as 
one certainly is, of Arawak origin. It is 
probable, therefore, that both Carib and 
Arawak occupied the island at different 
periods, but to solve this and other West 
Indian archeological problems, a great 
deal of further exploration and study will 
be needed. 




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